Help! Chicken leg injury

[Luckybaby]

It is about 36 hours since my mom found out that one of my chickens have a problem on one of his legs. Yesterday, he can still move the shank of his left leg but he is limping. Today, he can't move it anymore. I don't think there is something wrong with his right leg, and I doubt that he have a disease, since the only symptoms that I see, is that he can't moved his left leg shank. Yesterday, I thought that he have a sprained leg, and it is ok( even though his leg injury is much worser than my other chicken) to let him jump on his own from his coop to the ground, which is about 4 feet high, since my heavy breed chicken about 7 weeks ago, was limping and she started jumping that high, about 36 hours after she had her injury, and she is walking normally since last month. I think that I made his injury worser, but I already put him in a different cage, where he can't get out,.

He is a mix breed chicken. His mom is a buff cochin, and his dad is a mix breed, but his parents are not a heavy weight breed.




I saw that on the back of his left leg's hock joint, today, and I didn't see it yesterday. I think it is internal bleeding, but it could be because of friction, as he tried to move across the rocks and hard soil in his cage today.

photo of his left leg

 

[DAngeloFarms]

Hello,

My chicken started doing the same thing last month. I went through the whole list of things that it could be... Newcastle, Mareks's... She was panting and I thought that it was a respiratory symptom. They pant when they are in pain, hot or stressed. I thought that she was going to die. We had separated her from the flock and put her in a carrier where she was eating, drinking and even laying eggs. About 4 days into it I was cleaning her carrier when I noticed that her leg was a little floppy near the ankle and she wasn't standing erect on it like the other leg. It turns out that it was broken. When I first noticed that she was limping I moved her leg all around, even hung her upside down by her legs and it didn't seem to bother her. Her toes were just kind of limp. I think that they don't handle pain like you or I or even a dog when would pull away and make a noise. If that is an open wound (the picture was a bit fuzzy), keeping it clean and in as clean of a dressing as you can with some topical bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment would probably be best. If it is open and broken, that is much more serious. We had purchased some tetracycline antibiotic mix that you add to its water and they drink as needed before we figured out that it was just a broken bone.

If you think that it is broken, then you can splint it was a popsicle stick, roll gauze and the white first aid tape. We actually used four popsicle sticks (to kind of make a box around the leg lengthwise) after wrapping it with roll gauze and then covering it with tape.

Good luck with your chicken - its always disheartening when they are hurt. I was embarrassed when I didn't diagnose the broken leg because I am an emergency room doctor and I thought it would be easy... its not because they respond differently. Keep us updated.

 

[DAngeloFarms]

One more thing:

If your chicken looks like she is in pain, you can give her an aspirin solution that she can drink at will. Mississippi State University has this formula on their website. I've also included their astringent formula for the wound. A five grain aspirin is 325mg which is a full strength aspirin. If you have a mortar and pestle to really grind up the aspirin, that will work best. Grind it up and add water to the mortar and rinse it into your final container.



The following solutions have been used as supportive treatments by poultry and game bird producers. They are intended as aids in treating the described conditions, not as a replacement for any management, drug, or antibiotic therapy.


ASPIRIN SOLUTION
Used as a general treatment for reducing distress conditions of birds (fever or listlessness) that accompanies many diseases.

Dissolve five (5 grain) aspirin tablets in one gallon of water.​

Offer this solution free-choice to the birds for the duration of an illness. The solution aspirin equivalent to 25 grains/gallon or 324 mg/gallon of drinking water. The dosage rate is about 25 mg/lb body weight per day.

ASTRINGENT SOLUTION
This solution can be used to treat young birds that show non-typical disease symptoms of poor growth. The solution can also be given to birds suffering from respiratory diseases that produce a large amount of mucus exudate. This solution will help "cut through" the mucus and allow it to be expelled easier.

Two quarts of apple cider vinegar diluted into 100 gallons of water
(4 teaspoons/gallon)​

The tannin in the apple cider vinegar aide in removing any mucus or coating from the mouth, throat, or intestinal tract. Nutrients and drugs are more readily absorbed. Offer this solution as the only drinking water source for two to three day intervals.

 

[Luckybaby]

I think the part near it's hock joint is a little bit swollen, though I am not sure if it is really swollen.

 

[DAngeloFarms]

My chicken's injury was similar. I couldn't tell if it was really swollen although there was some asymmetry between the legs. They can also get a synovitis (inflammation of the lining of the joint) or an infected joint. However, my chicken was holding her leg the same exact ways. If she is eating and drinking and is otherwise normal, I bet that she broke it. I would splint it and put her in a carrier that she can't jump up on anything to prevent reinjuring it. If the hock itself is inflamed, you may want to start aspirin as an anti-inflammatory and antibiotics if she is not acting right and has an elevated temp.

 

[Luckybaby]

I tried to compare it to his other foot, and I really think that the area near it's hock joint are swollen. I even touched it's brothers hock joint( they are 1-2 days apart in age) and the area around it on their left leg to compare it to his left leg's hock joint and the area around it. It is definitely abnormal, since I can feel that some bones(the ones that feels like small bump) are not where it suppose to be. Maybe those bones are broken, or they are misaligned. Do I have to splint it, if the hock joint or tendon is broken? How do I do it? I have never tried to splint any parts of a body, and I think I am naturally bad on the major skill that is required for splinting.

How is your chicken that have leg injury last month? Can it walk normally now?

I tried to hold him with my one hand under him, and lift him above the ground. He can actually move it, but he is not putting weight on it, when he is on the ground.

 

[DAngeloFarms]

If it's the hock that you are talking about, then there should not be any little bones. The hock is their knee equivalent. There are small bones in the foot if it's the ankle you are talking about.

Our chicken is doing great with the splint and it's been almost a month. We plan to keep the splint on for 6 weeks bc we have let her walk around with it on. She walks fine but kind of skips when she decides to run.

 

[Luckybaby]

When you touch the area near the hock, you should feel some small bumps, which is a part of a big bone. Assuming that those parts are present in the same area in all of his brother's bones who are +/- 1 to 2 days apart in age, then something is wrong on that part of his bones.

Did you only splint the leg that is affected? How long did it take after you splint it, to see improvement? Which part of her leg is broken?

 

[DAngeloFarms]

Her leg was broken near the foot. A splint helps by providing support for the bones that are broken so you should only splint the bone that is broken. Look up chicken leg bone anatomy on google images to figure out which bone that you think is broken. It's probably the tibia if it's below the hock or the femur if it's above it. It took about a week with a splint for her to have any significant walking.

 

[Luckybaby]

I tried to touch the tibia and femur, but I can't feel anything misaligned. The area around the hock joint is swollen, so I assume, that something is broken or misaligned near there.

How did you know that her leg is broken near the foot?